One Gear One Mind is a phrase that has gotten me through more than one or two troubling times, and always gets me through to the finish line. Both single speeds and Endurance races are about commitment and seeing a decision through to its completion. This blog is about single speeds, endurance racing and all of lifes little lessons, I hope you enjoy it.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Sitting in my car or for that matter a car I am filled with a mixed bag of emotions. Amazed at the convenience of it all, sit down, turn the key, step on the pedal and off you go. It is a tool that can take you away from it all to different lands and faraway friends. I feel like one of the masses addicted to convenience, lazy, like I can feel the pounds being add to my body. I am filled with feelings of raping the earth, of how disconnected it makes me feel. I feel like part of the consumer culture, not caring about what the means were only the ends, gas for me. I mean it is a totally dangerous undertaking. Think of who is out there driving a bucket of bolts, hell bent on destruction. On the phone, moving, moving, moving. What does it all mean, for what purpose. The car culture has disconnected society in an attempt to bring us together. Think about how often you sit in traffic, alone, waiting for the light to change, waiting for the flow of traffic to pick up, waiting, waiting, waiting. I am not a very violent person but on more than one occasion behind the wheel of a car I have felt the urge to rid the earth of who ever gets in my way. I have two speeds stop and go. Go is always as fast as possible. Now mind you this urge has passed as I have grown, but at times I am so high strung after being in traffic that I need a tranquilizer to make it through the rest of the day.To the contrary while aboard a bicycle I feel part of my surroundings connected to what is going on around me, alive, different. I can go at my own pace, I can float above it all. I am a warrior, waging my battle to show that it can be different, there are alternatives. I don’t know where I heard it or who said it but the saying goes something like: "You must live the life you want there to be." In other words you must live the way you would like others to. Kind of like leading by example, not by what you say. I see the world differently from the saddle, it is my meditation, it is my mantra.What is the fascination with SUVs and huge trucks, do you really need that much compensation? Is that your message to the world? We are running out oil, and hurting the earth no matter how much we are told that is not the case. Global warming could be happening. When in years to come people wonder why, gas is so expensive, and the worlds weather is out of wack, and why cant I have my big SUV because it makes me feel safe? The answer is the consumerism of today, we need to start thinking and trying to make a change. Ride more, drive less, lets learn about where and how things are made. I am not at all saying I am perfect, I have driven a little more than I care to admit lately. I consume, we all do, but start to make a change, it is amazing how different you will feel. We are a car culture, maybe we will need a twelve step program to break societies SUV, gas, consumption addiction. Thanks for reading, now lets make a difference one day, one hour, one cyclist at a time.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Well I have not been on the bike in 7 days, 7 whole days of no riding, housework (aghhh!!!!) and rest, interspersed with a little work. I have used this time to get everything that was bothering me done. I even went to another doctor, well actually a nurse practitioner and guess what, her son is a road cyclist and has over trained before so we bonded. She called me a crazy cyclist, nuts, hell bent on my own destruction, of course laughing the whole time. She is running blood tests just to make sure it is overtrainig and not some hideous disease. She helped my breathing by diagnosing a sinus infection of massive proportions, must have been all the shit in the air. So she gave me antibiotics, I really dont like to take these, but I figure after fighting the fight for well over 5 weeks I should try at least. She also made fun of the ENT for not diagnosing the sinus infection. I really didnt like him anyways, he was one of those doctors who takes one look at you and then makes a diagnosis with out really even having a conversation with you or asking you any questions, I felt like he just wanted to collect my money and send me on my way. He is the reason I dont go to doctors, I can not stand people like that. Back to the nurse so we laughed she told me to use my head and pay attention a little bit and maybe next time I will catch this a little earlier. Blood results on Tuesday. She shared a story about her son overtrianing and he is flying again so there is hope. I still plan to race the Puff even if I am just there on a week back in the saddle, have fun and see alot of my friends. This years course looks to be amazing, brutal, good in a masocistic way, just what I like. I have renewed hope that the season is young and I am going to be on it later in the year. The trans Rockies course looks to be great as well. Day two looks to be brutal, but very enjoyable.I have been working on a suprise for the Vulture guys www.vulturecycles.com and plan to give it to them when I see them at the puff in 4 short weeks. I think that they will be stoked. Wade is building me a cross bike with forward facing drops and the derailer hanger (yikes) still on. NO plans to use the hanger until I am old or touring or both, but it will be nice to know it is there. Other than that the restaurant is set to get crazy tonight. I wish I were racing at one of the many races going on but hence I am in a race of my own and the finish looks to be in sight, just a week or a little more away. I can breath well again which is a big relief. Send me lots of good thoughts please. Thats all for now later. Keep pedaling.One more thought I just read UltramarathonMan by Dean Karnazes. Talk about a book that all endurance athletes should read, for that matter all of man kind should read. He is inspirational. This guy is the spirit of endurance he is endurance. He has run 262 miles in one shot, WTF, running hurts like hell. He is not the fastest but he certainly has run the farthest. Check it out at www.UltramarathonMan.com I read the book in two days, it is a fast read because you dont want to put it down. Later. agian

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

I think that i have overtrained myself and that has contributed to my foul mood and not so interesting posts. The redundency to be exact. I have not been my normal self at all and must apologize for dragging on like I have. I am currently off the bike and waiting for my resting heart rate to get back down to where it should be, not at 58 in the morning, when I just get up. I raced last thursday and it was very lack luster, basically I sucked and my body did not want to help me. So it has been a very rough time for me lately as I want to be charging and riding and getin it done and all I can do is look outside enjoy the sunshine and rest. The last 4 days I have been sleeping alot, resting and watching movies, aside from my trips to work, which has also been better money wise which has helped my mood. So I am on the mend I hope. Has anyone else overtrained to the point where their body is just worked over? What did you do? and how long did it take to get better? Again sorry for the redundencey I wish I were talking about racing and training a being super postive. The new Star Wars is awsome. Dark and filled with betrayal and lies. I wanted to rent the first Star Wars right after so I could see how it all comes together. I forget so much of that movie it has been a long time since I was a kid. I have not watched the new remastered ones, since childhood just 3 new ones. I have some catching up to do.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Well due to the fact that whatever I have just wont go away, I am going to the Ear nose throat guy tommarrow morning, so hopefully I will have an answer to my illness then. Since tonight is a local hammer race I plan to go to see what my body does. I have been waking up with a raised heart rate. Yoga today was good. The thursday teacher is just brutal with so many crazy poses it baffels me. I however can not do half of what she does, but making progress. So even though I am not a fan of the doctor after 6 weeks of not much but trying to get rid of it by every way I know how I must bite the bullet and go to the doc to see if he can give me some information about what might be going on in my throat. I am actually hoping that he has an answer, it will make sense at least. More after that. If i feel like shit I will not continue with the race tonight, it is not necessary. However I am hoping to get a good work out in. It is a very flat course so I have put a bit bigger gear so that I can hopefully stay in contact with the front of the race. It is also super windy again, but life goes on and any day really is a good day for a ride. Wish me luck.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Monday, May 16, 2005

It seems to me that endurance racing is on the rise, that the events are getting harder and it is the hardest ones that become the most appealing. Man I wish I had gone to the Kokopelli, but as my mood is much better today I think that it still was the smartest thing not to go. 4 finishers out of 15, that says something. 3 of them on singles and 3 of the 4 finishers on 29ers also speaks volumes. Jon brown is the man. He was fucking haling ass. To finish in under 15 hrs. I must say John Brown you are the man. Rumor has it he was running a 34 X 16 gearing. Check out the mtbr thread for more. I would love to do this race next year. I am going to try and stay healthy so that it can be a reality. Good job Mike for puting on such an event.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Look swobo is back. check out www.swobostore.com, nothing more than this will pop up or I could not get anything to open, but can you dig it, swobo is back. Check out their post on www.carsrcoffins.com Sweet. I am stoked. I love their jerseys that I have. It will be great to see them again.

I decided to not race as my focus recently needs to be on recouperating and getting better and I woke up still feeling sick and tired so I decided that it would be better to stay home and relax. Life has been super stressfull with lots of responsiblities that just have to get done and require lots of focus and attention to detail. I am feeling close to being ready to race and test my limits again, but today was not the day so I am relaxing and taking care of myself. I had really hoped to be ready to punish myself agian, but it was just not the day. I saw Kent yesterday out at his job while out spinnig around Seattle and Redmond on my singlespeed, we talked about how easy it is to overdo it and end up in a hole that takes a long time to get out of. I hate to sound like a whiny bitch, I have been riding, I am just not as motivated as I have been. It is very difficult for me to deal with, but I am thinking happy thoughts and being nicer to myself as each day goes. My body feels pretty good, my mind is getting there but not quite yet. I wonder how everyones races went this week end. Roger raced the Adrenalin race as did Chris, I wonder how it went. I wonder how the Koko went. How fast was it done on a single? When I find out I will definatley post what i know. think good thoughts.

Friday, May 13, 2005

These glasses rock. It is super easy to switch lenses, they are super light weight. Check em out on the web at www.axleyusa.com . I am going to have dinner with Micheal the man with a plan. I spoke with him today for a bit. These glasses have the potential to go far as they are in their 2nd year being in the states. They have some really cool glasses in addition to these. Today was pretty relaxing, I explored Seattle a bit and talked with some friends in the area. Matt Chenaworth now lives here, he raced solo 24 hr races for the last couple of years and is now taking a break and having more fun on his bike now than when he had all the pressures of racing on him. We may hook up and ride tommarrow after the race he plans to be out there in the afternoon. Who knows maybe he will ride with Sloane and I that certainly would be fun. I may get a rude awkening tommarrow, it is supposed to rain, and the course looks technical. More on that later, now it is time to relax before dinner. Later.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Today is my birthday and I am stoked. Hopefully I will soon be on my bike for a little bit today. On Wednesday after I got the call from work I was off. Completed a couple of errands and then it was the open road for me. At about 9:30 I was in Bend, OR hanging with the Vulture crew. They have some new water cut dropouts that look sick. Wade is also putting out a cool zine. Go to www.vulturecycles.com sign up and he should be shipping them out soon. It is about all things bike. Wade really make great bikes, they ride like no other, they track well, the are stiff and he is absolutly obsessed with getting you the bike that you want. Derek is an amazing painter, he can take care of your wildest graphic desires. Check out the pictures on the site my bike has a sick paint job. I have seen some of the other bikes he has painted and he rips. Derek and I stayed up talking about all the riding in the area, what trails I should ride the next day, and a ride that he has plans for in September, that may at sometme become an race. More after we ride it, as for now I dont want to divulge too much. Wade went home to be with his very sick child. Rio was down for the count and not happy, coughing all the time. Wednesday I woke up to have breakfast with Wade, and Rio and to do some catching up. We talked about his first ride in Leadville and all things bike. He is a constant innovator. Always striving to make a better product, one that rides better, smoother, stronger, etc. Always trying to improve what he does.After breakfast Wade sent me to the trailhead to meet up with some of his friends Hefe and Dan another Nat couldn't make it at the last minuete. We met at Phils trailhead. What can I say the trails in Bend are awsome. Twisty turny funride. The dirt was perfect. I would recommend a trail map as I got totally lost after I left the locals, eventually finding my way to all the trails I had been told about, but man was I confused. Got back to Wades, ate at Longboard Louies, major huge burritos, I got the shrimp one. i had planned to stay but due to Rios sickness and the fact that I am just getting over sickness, I decided to make the drive to Seattle, so here I am. Like I said today is my birthday so I am going to get out on my bike here in a bit, nothing too much, I have an appt at the acupunturist and then I plan to have a good dinner. Fucking 31 years man where did they all go. My dad always told me that time flies, but seriously it seems like yesterday I was a skateboarder in Burlington, VT, in high school just havin fun thinking 30 was death. Well here I am and still I feel young, but time has a way of pickin up speed. Later I have fun to chase.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

well here i sit waiting for work to call so that I can be officiall off for the evening. The winter weather has put a real damper on those tourists that pay my bills. As soon as I get the call it is off to Bend to ride with the Vulture boys, Wade and Derek, I hope, then on to Seattle to see my love and to get some business out of the way. While there I hope to race, the body and mind are not fully healed but seriously on the mend, so I am going to do a couple of races on Saturday and Sunday I think. I plan on hooking up with Sloane Anderson to do some riding after the races so that I can get a good day of training in. That is if my body is still not protesting. I have had a stuffed nose, read not able to breath through my nose and a frog in my throat for about a month maybe a little more now. It is horrible in the morning gets better mid day and comes back with a vengence at night. It really sucks and I dont like it but then what can I really do about it nothing seems to make it go away. Rest you might say, well I did that for over a week and it did not improve. Unfortunalty life has a way of going on and I know that I will get better it is just a matter of when. But the good sign is I feel as though I can attempt a race to see where it goes which means it must be almost over. It sure has been a learning experience. Well lunch is ready and I hope to be on the road soon. I should be able to post again in a couple days, Bend I am so looking forward to the trails i have heard such good things but never had a chance to experience them. Tommarrow, tommarrow the sun will come out tommarrow, thanks to little orphan Annie. Forgive me I had a sister, and grew up in the eighties. Keep the rubber side down. later

Saturday, May 07, 2005

So I just heard, well last week sometime I heard that the TV program that Park City Television did about the E100 www.thee100.com is actually finished and I am going to recieve a copy in the mail hopfully monday. Dude, how exciting. Ahh the memories. More after I check it out.

Any one think that a documentary indie film about the single speed culture would be cool. I have so many thoughts. Life just needs to be documented. It is not as expensive to do as I once thought.

More thoughts about ditchin work and just traveling around single speedin the days away. No time like this year. This plan is still in it infancy but who knows.

I am thinking about going and doing the Whiskey off road race. www.epicrides.com in Prescott AZ, but am unsure if my body, the illness is fully gone. We will certainly see.

Mothers day is tommarrow, Happy mothers day mom. Dont forget to call or visit mom tommarrow, it is very important. Love to all moms out there. If it werent for you we wouldnt all be here. Thanks

Friday, May 06, 2005

Yesterday was supposed to be a race day but when it rains like it did the soil on Pevine turns in to a sticky mess, so they cancelled the race. I was looking forward to pushing it again to see just how my body would respond, but it will have to wait. Instead I got to really put the rain gear to the test. Dr. Dooms goods work flawlessly. Enough venting, and i stayed dry. It was really raining hard for some of the ride, then let up a bit towards the end. Last night instead of punishing myself on a bike I went out drinking a had just a little too much. Still feeling it today, but it was a planned rest day so that is what I am doing. That and the wind is absolutly howling right now, as it seems it has been doing all year. Reno is usually windy, but not this windy. It is unusually dismall this year. Well it is forcing me to do some of those things that just wouldnt get done if it were beautiful and sunny. The hills around here are amazing and the wild flowers are something else. I have never seem Reno so green, in that way it is a relief. Old Crow Medicine Show is what has been in the cd player as of late. Nice and twangy. My friend Mark turned me on to them. www.crowmedicine.com check em out. Not much else to report, except I am getting a new camera, and returning the old one. MOm worked some deal out. So happy I am. Later

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

I think. I rode today and felt much better. Tommarrow there is a local race, short very short, I think we race for an hour. But I will see how it feels when I punch it. I still have some alergy type symptoms and such but not much else. I have named it the eternal lump in the throat. Well that said the weather was not so good today, but held out and I raged around with friends on the local trails right behind the house. Pevine one of the largest mountains in the reno area and Keystone canyon trailhead are literally a stones throw away. Not bad. So then had a few beers and then picked up some of Ritchey stuff to outfit my bike with. I love the Lake shoes I have been riding. I'll try to get a picture of them. They are not their top teir but are very comfortable and the sole rocks. I have been enjoying them. Then a phone conversation with my team mate Rich, to see how he is doing and to put some final details on to the plans for the Trans Rockies. I can not wait. Anyone wishing to get in to this race should think fast as there are only 15 spots left. Considering they only had 119 teams last year and they already have 160 thats great. What an experience. We are renting a camper van for the trip, so we can cook our own meals and be on our own program so to speak. My girlfriend Danielle the wonderful, will be our captain. She just loves smelly bike racers who are punishing themselves. Really she is a great support. I have been thinking about quitting my restarant gig in August and hitting the open road for a couple of months, to get a change of perspective. Scary I know, but think of the memories and experiences. I would have to go to the Single Speed Worlds, in State College I have heard epic things. I wonder how the Fruita Fat Tire fest is going. At some time I would like to check it out. Maybe next year. Lots of Brainstorming. Ahhh gotta go relax, walk the dog and check out a movie. Motorcycle Diaries tonignt. Pedal hard.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

this guy has the right idea. I took this off the net from pictures of a trackstar party in nyc. I thought it was great. Cars are the enemy. as Kent Peterson would say " any distance is biking distance"

I can not for what ever reason kick this sinus infection/throat issue that I have. I have been riding a little, but due to my inability to process oxygen well, and that my throat only seems to get drier in doing so I have not been able to train so I dont think that in my condition it would be a good idea to race the Kokopelli. Maybe next year. I have been tossing this around in my mind for awhile hoping that I would just get better so I could go and do it, but I must make a smart decision Trans Rockies is my real focus this year so that is what it must be my real focus, no sense in getting really sick and tired and not being able to do that. I just dont have that kind of money to throw around. I am feeling better than I have been though so I may do one of the local Thursday night races, on thursday imagine that. Put on by the Reno Wheelmen. All in all I am commited to getting back to 100% so that I can be in top form for the end of the season which is when I have most of my big races anyways. Scary that Creampuff is only 2 months away. Jonathan Baker the cancer survivor that I have spoken of is not even on his bike yet, and plans to do it. Inspiration. Tough. Dedicated. I know that eventually I will get better, it is just the way things happen in the world we live in and that pushing it will only delay getting back to a 100%. So I hate to sound like a broken record. This year has been the year of the sickness, and struggle for me. It has been quite a learning experience, and not so fun. I said that this blog would be about cycling and lifes little struggles. Recently it has been more about lifes little struggles, and being held back in a state of darkness, but somebody said "the darkest moment always come right before the light" Well I sure hope it doesnt get any darker in here, because my lights aren't charged. Ha Ha. Well I wish all those racing The Laguna Seca race, the koko, the best. I will hopefully in a small base/build/ riding my bike a whole lot more stage. Rest is the hardest thing for me, actually sitting still is quite difficult, so this time has been gut wrenchingly,is that a word, for me. STill is. But I figure that rest is the only real way for the body to heal. So I am dissappionted about not going to the KOko but what can you do. I am where I am so that is that. I can fight it all i want, but there is no sense in forging on at the expense of my entire season. Keep pedalin.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Boris has made 10 postcards to hand out to promote his race. This is one of Mr Baker, he will be trying to do the creampuff, the brianhead epic, the Durango 100 and the e100 this season. He is still fighting cancer from my understanding. Much respect

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Winters grip is not losening here in the Reno Tahoe area. My drive home last night was snow filled. Huh? Makes me want to scream wtf. I rode my bike yesterday and felt better but still not 100%. I plan to go for a little road spin today. It rained last night and I think that the trails will be muddy, here that means that the clay sticks to everything and sooner than not you are walking a 50 lb bike. The TV program that PCTV produced about the E100 is finished and I should be getting a copy in the mail soon. Yesterday I recieved the E100 literature. www.thee100.com from Boris so I can start promoting, getting out all the information and talking this up as much as I can. This race is truely awsome. All you out there should think about doing it, screw that every endurance racer looking for one hell of a challange should give this one a go. Trust me you wont be disappointed. There are a bunch of postcards and I am on one. I think thats pretty cool. Time to go walk the dog and then out for a little spin. Peace out.

About Me

In the city or in the country, the bottom line is I like bikes and they have been good to me. I fell in love with them and it is all consuming, fixies and singlespeeds are my favorite, 1 is all you need. So this year I got sick and didnt race but knowing I would get better and all that came from the illness helped me grow in leaps and bounds. I love tough races, and the satisfaction that comes from finishing. One gear One mind, clarity.